… According to a release issued by the university, a total of six players will be suspended for a game or games at the beginning of 2011 for selling awards, gifts and university apparel and receiving improper benefits in 2009. Included in that total is quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who figured to be in the thick of the Heisman race next year but now must decide whether it’s worth even coming back another year.

Pryor, the release states, must repay $2,500 for selling his 2008 Big Ten championship ring, a 2009 Fiesta Bowl sportsmanship award and his 2008 Gold Pants, a gift from the university. He will be suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season, or nearly half of his final year of collegiate eligibility.

Joining Pryor on the sidelines for the first five game of ’11 — or the NFL, whichever the case may be — are offensive lineman Mike Adams, running back Boom Herron, wide receiver DeVier Posey and defensive lineman Solomon Thomas. Like Pryor, all four of those players are juniors and thus eligible for the April draft.

Dawg fans, perhaps you noticed that the suspension is for five games, one longer than A.J. served. Here’s why:

“We were not as explicit with our student-athlete education as we should have been in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 academic years regarding the sale of apparel, awards and gifts issued by the athletics department,” athletic director Gene Smith said in a statement. “We began to significantly improve our education in November of 2009 to address these issues. After going through this experience, we will further enhance our education for all our student-athletes as we move forward.”

“Once a student-athlete understands a violation has occurred, they must immediately come forward to report it,” he said. “That did not happen, so the additional one-game penalty was imposed.”

Any word on why it starts in the ’11 season and not with the bowl game – not that I am offended, just curious. Also, why would Ohio State gift gold pants? Finally, they couldn’t get but an even $2,500 a piece for all of these items. Did they have some kind of memorabilia broker?

Really finally, if they kept the merchandise, had their parents receive the money and were on track to go to the championship game – would this even have come up?

The USA Today story spouts some lame excuse about not being properly educated on the violations when they occurred. More NCAA selective interpretation based on the school, the weather, teh money, whatever.

Fuelk2 and Pantslesspatdye-
The gold pants Ohio State gives away are a gift that everybody on the football team gets when they beat Michigan. They’re not actual pants, they’re little gold charms that look like they belong on a charm bracelet. I saw it on the OSU/Michigan HBO special (well worth watching btw). Stems from OSU hiring a new coach long ago, who in his job interview when asked how we would end Michigan’s dominance in the rivalry, responded “they put their pants on one leg at a time just like we do.” When OSU beat UM the next season, someone gave the coach the gift and he asked that they be made for the whole team. Tradition born. Archie Griffin says in the special that he cherishes his 3 gold pants as much as his two Heismans.

No suspension until 2011? The NCAA’s reasoning for this delayed suspension is possibly the most lame and transparent excuse I’ve ever heard. I’m absolutely certain it didn’t have anything to do with bowl revenue and ratings.
The NCAA, a shining beacon of integrity for our youth.

1. Arkansas can play against a full-strength OSU. I’m sure they don’t want the suckeyes to have an excuse for their perennial beatdown at the hands of the SEC.
2. The NCAA has completely exposed themselves as an association that is beholding only to the almighty dollar and the preservation of it’s own existence. The NFL can conveniently hold their admonishment/punishment of Farve until 1 to 2 weeks following his last appearance, but the huge stones required to delay suspension in tatgate until after the bowl game is unbelievable. If the NCAA believes that they did not properly educate these athletes regarding the selling of merchandise then perhaps they should not be suspended, but to delay suspension for that reason is nonsensical. Stones the size of canteloupes.

Questions.
When did the investigation start?
How long has OSU known about the possible violations?
No explaination from the NCAA why it only applies to next year?
This pisses me off more when I consider AJs punishment.

I seem to be in the minority on this, but the punishment as handed down actually seems HARSHER to me than if they had to miss the bowl game. Follow me here……….with Pryor and these other big names coming back, tOSU was definitely planning on contending for the national title next year. However, the bowl game has no real bearing………regardless of what happens, they are co-champions of the Big 10, but have no shot at the national title this year. Honestly, “Sugar Bowl Winner” doesn’t add much in the grand scheme of things — yes, winning the Sugar Bowl is a great thing, but if I had to choose between winning the Sugar Bowl this year or the national title next year, it’s a pretty easy choice. If it were my team, I would actually prefer that one of their suspension games be the bowl game, so that I got all the guys back a week earlier next year and hopefully still have a shot at making a run at the title. It just seems to me that those guys being out an extra game next year has the potential to make a much larger impact than missing the bowl game would.

You may be under estimating the shame Ohio State feels being oh-fer-the SEC. I can’t imagine they didn’t have a say in when this punishment would be served. And there is no other logic for them to take a 5 game hit in 2011 when the 5th game on their schedule is the conference opener against Michigan State.

It may be a really good indicator just how motivated OSU will be against the Hawgs in NOLA. Somebody “call the Hogs” and warn them!

They just came up short on shame when the time came to start discussing appealing said suspension that their shame allowed them to plan around yet another SEC beatdown.
I seriously can’t believe those weed sticker wearing jack rags are going to force me to cheer for Bobby Petrino.
Man, I hate the Big Ten-ish.

I feel like it hurts more to have the suspensions start next year instead of the bowl game. Think about the effect on us if AJ Green only had to serve three regular season games. I know the timing didn’t play out the same but consider it in a vacuum.

We were so concerned with forfeiting games because AJ could be found ineligible that we voluntarily held him out for two games. Why doesn’t forfeiture of games by playing ineligible players apply here?

From AJ’s travails being published in great detail, why wouldn’t we expect these”uninformed” OSU players to hear or read the correct info and turn themselves in at the start of this fall? Because they DID know and compiled more hubris with OSU in full complicity by waiting until now to report it. They should have to forfeit their games this season for ineligible players playing. End of story.

Heard an interview today with OSU’s AD on satellite radio. Don’t know if this is a reaction from the outcry, or something they had already planned, but he did not rule out Tressel sitting the players involved for a portion of the Sugar Bowl (one quarter, or a half?). He stated punishment was better when it was immediately imposed.

Also said they were evaluating when, and if, to appeal. Some of the infractions went back to 2008 and many of the players involved have known about this for all of the 2009, and 2010 seasons. How does this mesh with the immediate penalty on AJ when the NCAA only learned about AJ’s jersey in August? Seems UGA always get the max impact of any misstep, both on and off the field.